Briefs/World

May 05, 2007

AUTO RACINGGordon wins pole Jeff Gordon's rolled to his third consecutive NASCAR Nextel Cup pole position Friday in Richmond, Va., and former series champion Dale Jarrett was among those headed home as Toyota teams again struggled to compete. Gordon, a four-time series champion, will start on the pole for the fourth consecutive week -- he started first as the series points leader when qualifying was rained out a Texas -- and for the fifth time in six races. He's also won two races in a row, and has opened a 203-point lead over second-place Jeff Burton after nine races. "I'm kind of blown away right now with the roll that we're on," Gordon said. Jarrett was blown away, too, by almost everyone. His Toyota finished 47th among the 50 cars attempting to make the field, with a fast lap at just 123.226 mph. For the drivers from the area, LaPorte's Tony Raines was 19th while South Bend's David Stremme was 21st and Ryan Newman 30th. The second fastest qualifier was Carl Edwards in a Ford at 125.657 mph. Scott Riggs qualified third in a Dodge, followed by the Chevrolet of Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne in another Dodge. The rest of the top 10 includes the Chevys of Denny Hamlin, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Martin Truex and Mark Martin, and Dave Blaney's Toyota. Bowyer wins Busch race Clint Bowyer won the race off pit road with about 28 laps to go Friday night and easily went on to his fifth career NASCAR Busch Series victory. Matt Kenseth dominated much of the latter part of the race, but pitted along with the other leaders after the final caution flew on lap 223. Carl Edwards and David Ragan assumed the top two spots by staying out, but their stay in front didn't last long. Kenseth came out fifth, behind Bowyer and Jeff Burton, after a mishap with the jack on Kenseth's right front tire. Edwards and Ragan faded, but Bowyer remained strong, taking the lead with 19 laps to go and winning by 1.483 seconds. It was his second win this season, and also was the fourth Busch Series victory in a row at Richmond for Richard Childress Racing. Kevin Harvick, who finished fourth, won the last three in a row. BOXINGMayweather at heaviest Oscar De La Hoya weighed in at the 154-pound class limit Friday in Las Vegas, while Floyd Mayweather Jr. weighed 150 for their super welterweight title fight. It was the heaviest Mayweather has ever weighed for a fight. He weighed 147 for his last fight six months ago against Carlos Baldomir. Mayweather moved up from welterweight after that fight to challenge De La Hoya for his WBC 154-pound title. GOLFWoods, Singh out front Tiger Woods finally had the lead to himself on a chilly Friday at the Wachovia Championship as he walked toward the eighth green, only two holes left in his second round and his ball 6 feet below the cup for another birdie. Padraig Harrington was one shot behind and warming up on the range. Vijay Singh was four shots back in the group behind. Things sure can change in a hurry at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, N.C. On a day when the steamy South felt more like late fall in New England, the leaderboard shifted just as suddenly. Within a half-hour, Woods and Singh were tied for the lead to set up a showdown between the top two players on the PGA Tour this year. Woods missed his short birdie putt, then took his only bogey of the round when he drove into the trees on No. 9 and had to settle for a 4-under 68. Singh played the final three holes in 3 under to salvage a 71 and join Woods at 6-under 138. Also tied for the lead was Arron Oberholser, who also emerged from obscurity quickly with birdies on his last three holes for a 69. They had a one-shot lead over Ted Purdy (69) and Jason Bohn (72), who were among six players who had at least a share of the lead. Phil Mickelson was three strokes back after a 71. Castrale goes bogey-free Nicole Castrale shot a 4-under 67 in muddy conditions to take the first-round lead in the SemGroup Championship in Broken Arrow, Okla. In search of her first LPGA Tour win, Castrale had the only bogey-free round of the day to take a one-stroke edge over Brandie Burton, Angela Stanford and former Oklahoma State star Karin Sjodin. Castrale, a 28-year-old former Southern California player, had 20 players within three strokes of her on the leaderboard, including top-ranked Lorena Ochoa, Kraft Nabisco champion Morgan Pressel, Paula Creamer and Se Ri Pak. Thompson shows youngsters Leonard Thompson shot a tournament-record 8-under 64 to take two-stroke lead in the FedEx Kinko's Classic in Lakeway, Texas, making the 60-year-old player the Champions Tour's oldest first-round leader of the year. Thompson, a three-time winner on the 50-and-over tour after also winning three times on the PGA Tour, completed his bogey-free round with an eagle.